They Might Be Giants Pack Mini-Jams Into 'Nanobots' - Album Premiere

By Rolling Stone | Rolling Stone – Tue, Feb 26, 2013 9:00 AM EST

They Might Be Giants are ready to release their new record, Nanobots, and the title couldn't be more appropriate for the quirky alt-rockers' 16th studio album. Nanobots is stuffed with 25 short morsels of power-pop, and no track even approaches the 3:30 mark. But there are still plenty of meaty hooks and memorable melodies, from the peppy power chords and vocal harmonies of "Circular Karate Chop" to the gently drifting melancholy on "Sometimes a Lonely Way."

They Might Be Giants Photos

They Might Be Giants take the succinct idea even further, though, packing the album with mini-jams that sometimes top out at under 10 seconds. "Hive Mind" is a six-second ditty that chimes its title, while "There" sounds lifted from a They Might Be Giants stage musical. "[It] sounds like we might need a refill on some Ritalin, but those 25-second songs really offset the longer ones," member John Flansburgh told Rolling Stone in December. "While it will be released early in the year, I think it is safe to say there is more bass clarinet on this album than any other rock album of 2013."

Nanobots will be out on March 5th on Idlewild Recordings.

Related

This article originally appeared on Rolling Stone: They Might Be Giants Pack Mini-Jams Into 'Nanobots' - Album Premiere

News for You

  • NYers furious over photos taken through windows

    NEW YORK (AP) — In one photo, a woman is on all fours, presumably picking something up, her posterior pressed against a glass window. Another photo shows a couple in bathrobes, their feet touching beneath a table. And there is one of a man, in jeans and a T-shirt, lying on his side as he takes a nap.

  • 'Iron Man 3' races past $1 billion dollar mark on monster foreign take

    By Todd Cunningham LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Iron Man 3" was soaring past $1 billion at the worldwide box office Thursday, in a display of world domination that would make one of Marvel's super villains proud. The box-office bounty - roughly $700 million from abroad and $300 million domestically - is a major triumph for Disney, which bet big on comic book superheroes when it bought Marvel Studios for $4 billion in 2009. And its decision to bring aboard a Chinese partner for "Iron Man 3" and focus the Disney marketing machine on the booming foreign market looks pretty good right now, too. ...

  • Denmark favorite to win Eurovision Song Contest

    MALMO, Sweden (AP) — An ethno-inspired flute and drum tune from Denmark is the bookmakers' favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, which also features a bizarre opera pop number from Romania and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath.

  • NYC artist's secret photos raise privacy issues

    NEW YORK (AP) — In one photo, a woman is on all fours, presumably picking something up, her posterior pressed against a glass window. Another photo shows a couple in bathrobes, their feet touching beneath a table. And there is one of a man, in jeans and a T-shirt, lying on his side as he takes a nap.

  • 'American Idol' finale draws record low ratings

    NEW YORK (AP) — Ratings for the "American Idol" finale plunged to a record low for the 12-year-old show.

  • NBC's 'The Voice' confirms Christina Aguilera, Cee Lo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton returning

    By Jethro Nededog LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The gang's back together! NBC announced on Friday that pop diva Christina Aguilera and funk singer Cee Lo Green will be reuniting with pop star Adam Levine and country singer Blake Shelton for Season 5, as TheWrap was the first to report. The network also said that Shakira and Usher are set to return on Season 6, which will air in midseason 2014. ...

Show More